Should I Build It Should I Build It
07 May 2025
E-Commerce

shopping note app, for user to take note every time go shopping

Confidence
Engagement
Net use signal
Net buy signal

Idea type: Swamp

The market has seen several mediocre solutions that nobody loves. Unless you can offer something fundamentally different, you’ll likely struggle to stand out or make money.

Should You Build It?

Don't build it.

Your are here

You're entering a crowded space with your shopping note app idea. We've seen many similar solutions, and frankly, most haven't made a significant impact. Our analysis shows 12 similar products already exist, putting you in a highly competitive environment. The engagement around these existing apps is low, averaging only 1 comment per product, suggesting that users aren't particularly thrilled or invested in these solutions. There's no clear positive signal regarding people wanting to use or buy similar apps, which indicates a lack of strong demand or unmet need. Given this landscape, it's crucial to understand why current shopping list apps haven't captured the market and whether you can truly offer something different to break through the noise.

Recommendations

  1. Begin with thorough market research to understand why existing shopping list apps haven't achieved widespread adoption. Identify their shortcomings and areas where users are still underserved. Examine user reviews and feedback on competitor apps (like the ones mentioned in the provided context, such as "Shopper") to pinpoint pain points and unmet needs. For example, the criticism surrounding "Shopper" indicated a need for in-app user instructions; this is a concrete area to consider improving upon.
  2. Instead of directly competing with established shopping list apps, consider niche applications. Focus on a specific demographic or shopping scenario that is not adequately addressed by existing solutions. For example, you could tailor the app for users with dietary restrictions (gluten-free, vegan) or for specific stores with loyalty programs, or even for meal planning and recipe-based shopping.
  3. Explore opportunities to integrate your app with existing platforms and services that shoppers already use. This could involve partnering with grocery delivery services, recipe websites, or smart home devices. Instead of building a standalone app, think about creating a feature or add-on that enhances the functionality of existing popular tools.
  4. Pivot to a related problem space that might offer more potential. Consider focusing on tools that help shoppers discover new products, compare prices, or manage their grocery budgets. These areas might be less saturated and offer a greater opportunity for innovation. The low use and buy signals suggest that the core problem of 'making a shopping list' may not be compelling enough on its own.
  5. Given the 'Swamp' category and the lack of strong signals, carefully evaluate if this is the best use of your time and resources. It might be more prudent to explore other ideas or markets where there is a clearer demand and a greater chance of success. Consider that no one expressed particular interest in using existing apps.

Questions

  1. What is the one unique feature or capability that your shopping note app will offer that no other app currently provides, and how will you validate that this feature is truly valuable to users?
  2. Given the low engagement with existing shopping list apps, what specific strategies will you employ to drive user adoption and retention, and how will you measure the success of these strategies?
  3. If you were to discover that your initial target market is not responding to your app, what alternative user segments or use cases would you explore, and what pivots would you be willing to make to find a viable product-market fit?

Your are here

You're entering a crowded space with your shopping note app idea. We've seen many similar solutions, and frankly, most haven't made a significant impact. Our analysis shows 12 similar products already exist, putting you in a highly competitive environment. The engagement around these existing apps is low, averaging only 1 comment per product, suggesting that users aren't particularly thrilled or invested in these solutions. There's no clear positive signal regarding people wanting to use or buy similar apps, which indicates a lack of strong demand or unmet need. Given this landscape, it's crucial to understand why current shopping list apps haven't captured the market and whether you can truly offer something different to break through the noise.

Recommendations

  1. Begin with thorough market research to understand why existing shopping list apps haven't achieved widespread adoption. Identify their shortcomings and areas where users are still underserved. Examine user reviews and feedback on competitor apps (like the ones mentioned in the provided context, such as "Shopper") to pinpoint pain points and unmet needs. For example, the criticism surrounding "Shopper" indicated a need for in-app user instructions; this is a concrete area to consider improving upon.
  2. Instead of directly competing with established shopping list apps, consider niche applications. Focus on a specific demographic or shopping scenario that is not adequately addressed by existing solutions. For example, you could tailor the app for users with dietary restrictions (gluten-free, vegan) or for specific stores with loyalty programs, or even for meal planning and recipe-based shopping.
  3. Explore opportunities to integrate your app with existing platforms and services that shoppers already use. This could involve partnering with grocery delivery services, recipe websites, or smart home devices. Instead of building a standalone app, think about creating a feature or add-on that enhances the functionality of existing popular tools.
  4. Pivot to a related problem space that might offer more potential. Consider focusing on tools that help shoppers discover new products, compare prices, or manage their grocery budgets. These areas might be less saturated and offer a greater opportunity for innovation. The low use and buy signals suggest that the core problem of 'making a shopping list' may not be compelling enough on its own.
  5. Given the 'Swamp' category and the lack of strong signals, carefully evaluate if this is the best use of your time and resources. It might be more prudent to explore other ideas or markets where there is a clearer demand and a greater chance of success. Consider that no one expressed particular interest in using existing apps.

Questions

  1. What is the one unique feature or capability that your shopping note app will offer that no other app currently provides, and how will you validate that this feature is truly valuable to users?
  2. Given the low engagement with existing shopping list apps, what specific strategies will you employ to drive user adoption and retention, and how will you measure the success of these strategies?
  3. If you were to discover that your initial target market is not responding to your app, what alternative user segments or use cases would you explore, and what pivots would you be willing to make to find a viable product-market fit?

  • Confidence: High
    • Number of similar products: 12
  • Engagement: Low
    • Average number of comments: 1
  • Net use signal: 18.9%
    • Positive use signal: 18.9%
    • Negative use signal: 0.0%
  • Net buy signal: 0.0%
    • Positive buy signal: 0.0%
    • Negative buy signal: 0.0%

This chart summarizes all the similar products we found for your idea in a single plot.

The x-axis represents the overall feedback each product received. This is calculated from the net use and buy signals that were expressed in the comments. The maximum is +1, which means all comments (across all similar products) were positive, expressed a willingness to use & buy said product. The minimum is -1 and it means the exact opposite.

The y-axis captures the strength of the signal, i.e. how many people commented and how does this rank against other products in this category. The maximum is +1, which means these products were the most liked, upvoted and talked about launches recently. The minimum is 0, meaning zero engagement or feedback was received.

The sizes of the product dots are determined by the relevance to your idea, where 10 is the maximum.

Your idea is the big blueish dot, which should lie somewhere in the polygon defined by these products. It can be off-center because we use custom weighting to summarize these metrics.

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